Hersey Farm in Hingham coming back to life

Hingham’s July 4th celebrations include reminiscing about the way things were and evoking moments from the town’s and the country’s historical past. Meanwhile, that “historical past” is living, breathing, and sometimes “mooing” today on Hersey Street, much like it has since the Rev...

Hingham’s July 4th celebrations include reminiscing about the way things were and evoking moments from the town’s and the country’s historical past. Meanwhile, that “historical past” is living, breathing, and sometimes “mooing” today on Hersey Street, much like it has since the Revolutionary War.

The 19-acre Hersey Farm is a throwback to an era when there were many farms in Hingham and surrounding towns. Current caretaker Peter Hersey is the 10th generation of the family to live on the farm, making one of the oldest farms in the state still operating under the original family name. It’s the only 18th century farm still in existence in Hingham.

Peter, who inherited the farm from his father, intentionally refers to himself as the caretaker, rather than the owner of the property. “Over time, you tend to be a conservator or a caretaker of the asset. It doesn’t seem to me you ever own it when you look at the history; the bucolic, natural setting. In conjunction with the historical significance, you’re just a caretaker.”

Peter sits under a huge shade tree in his grandfather’s Adirondack chair and talks about the history and his plans for the future of the farm. A semi-retired consultant and entrepreneur, he grew up here, working the farm alongside his father, earning many 4-H ribbons that are still displayed in the barn. After his father became ill with Alzheimer’s, the farm still operated, but the buildings began to suffer from years of “deferred maintenance”. In the past decade, Peter began a building-by-building restoration project. The project has become almost a full time job in the last 3 or 4 years.

The farm began with Reuben Hersey I, who built the original house on the property beginning in 1776. Reuben I joined the Revolutionary War effort before he could finish the house. After serving as a fifer in the war, he came back and finished the house and farmed the land. He also brought back his songbook from the war, which is in the family’s archives. That house, which the family calls the “1776 House,” served as a home for generations of Herseys. The large colonial on the property was built as a Cape in the 1800s and expanded for Peter’s grandfather Reuben’s family of 7 children.

Bank barn

The barn, called a “bank barn” because it was built into a bank of land, has been there since at least 1837, proven by Reuben Hersey Jr, who carved his initials along with the date in the barn. Original farm implements, including hay wagons, wood yoke for oxen, horse collars, and a “stone boat” used to drag stone to build walls along the property, are still in the barn. Also in the barn are more recent mementos like Peter’s 4-H ribbons, jars, signs from when the Herseys sold their prized strawberries at the farm as recently as the 1970s.

Page 2 of 3 - Renovations have not begun on the 1776 house or many of the other smaller buildings yet. Hersey said that when he first began the project, “what seemed like it would take two years ended up taking four.” Renovation of the barn will begin this summer, when a group of Amish builders will come and empty the barn, store its contents, and bring it back to its original form.

First on the list for renovation, beyond the colonial house and surrounding garden, was the farmland itself. Peter said: “The absolute goals are to have it stay in the family and stay a farm.” When his father became ill, farming took a back seat and the animals left. The hay was grown and sold to farmers in the area, like Hornstra’s farm. In order to bring back animals, the first chore was to literally mend the fences, which had fallen over, restoring them to their original state with cedar posts. Next up was to clean out the feeding barn and pigpen. Still a work in progress is fixing the agricultural irrigation ditch. This ditch, which runs all through the farm, was hand dug by Peter’s grandfather, and uses a natural irrigation system with bridges still in need of repair.

Eventually, he would like to have goats, pigs, and chickens return to the farm, and he already holds the permits to do so. But, right now, he has cows grazing in the fields, evidence of a unique cooperative farming effort with Hornstra farm in Norwell. Herseys and Hornstras have a long history of working together, Peter says. In the family archives is original paperwork showing the $20,000 loan from his grandfather to the Hornstras to buy their farm on Union Street. Today, that farm is overshadowed by the larger one in Norwell. John Hornstra brings his pregnant and young cows to Hersey’s Farm to graze because he needs to keep them separate from his milking cows. The pregnant cows will go back to Hornstra’s to give birth, and their calves and a new group of expectant mothers will come over to Hersey’s.

History

When Peter began his project, he realized what a daunting task the restoration may be. He has a blueprint of sorts for restoring the property, because the buildings are all intact. But when he opened the buildings, there was a lot of history. “What you have here is a family who settled in 1776 and threw very little out.” He needed help, which came one day when he was reading a story in the newspaper about a man, his wife, and their mule who were walking across the country. Peter invited Bud and Patricia Kenny and their mule Della to stay on the farm. In return, they helped renovate the colonial and inventory the contents of the outbuildings. They stayed longer than expected, but he says their help was invaluable.

Page 3 of 3 - The late John Richardson, Town Historian, authenticated and catalogued much of the collection. From Richardson’s perspective, the farm, its archives, and its collection of old wood and leather equipment are as important historically to Hingham as Old Ship Church and Old Derby Academy. In fact, it completed the triad of church, school, and work to Richardson.

To ensure the future of Hersey Farm, Peter has ideas ranging from reviving the farm stand and selling the award-winning Hersey strawberries; having weddings, showers, and retreats on the grounds; starting a bed and breakfast; and having old-fashioned children’s parties with maypoles and hayrides. (No cow tipping allowed!) If you drive by, listen and you may hear Raspberry, Snaps, and Lauren mooing from the field!